The Hillsborough County School board has voted 5-2 to proceed with placing a sales tax referendum on the November 6th ballot.
Board members will ask for a half-cent sales tax increase to provide much-needed funding for the district, which Superintendant Jeff Eakins says is looking at $3 Billion dollars in unfunded needs.
The measure must be approved by the Hillsborough County Commission before it can be placed on the ballot, and there also needs to be an audit of the district's finances and ballot language submitted to the Hillsborough elections supervisor by next Tuesday.
If it does wind up on the November ballot, it will be the second sales tax referendum on that ballot. Hillsborough voters are already considering a one-cent sales tax for transportation. If the education sales tax referendum isn't placed on the November ballot or is rejected by voters, the school district will try again in March during the city of Tampa's municipal election.